A few days had passed. Fox had barely left the hospital placed in the scenic mountains of Corneria, with the crisp air only aiding towards his recovery. The whole hospital was much larger than the ship he was trapped in for so long, and his own room was well stocked and staffed, with a couple of nurses coming by now and then to check on him, and to bring him much more palatable food, compared to the slop he was given before.

For now, he had to settle for soup and fruits – but he was slowly being worked up to digest more solid food, given that he hadn't had a square meal in a long time. Still, Fox couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed a bowl of vegetable soup. He also had his own bed to sleep on – not the solid cot that he was given, but one with an actual pillow and solid mattresses. He also had thin enough sheets to cover himself with in the event he got too cold, but the weather on Corneria was slightly warmer than usual, so he had the windows wide open to bring in fresh air into his hospital room, and even had the air conditioning ready to go should he get too warm.

Yet despite the fact that he was very comfortable, Fox couldn't sleep.

His mind was racing with the raw memories of his captivity – his endless days of beating, starvation, loneliness and humilitation that only served to torment him from the inside out. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his mind to drift off to sleep, so he took to walking out to the balcony that was attached to his hospital room, in a bid to get some more fresh air, but all that did was make him more thankful that he wasn't locked up in a cage anymore, which led back to the deplorable conditions he was in. So he went back to his hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling but unable to convince himself to rest, even after shutting his eyes for a few minutes.

Fox could hear a quiet sound of a door opening up nearby him, and Fox jumped up, his ears perking up to sense the direction the sound was coming from. "Who's there?" Fox shouted, carefully making his way out of his bed.

"Sshhh…" whispered Krystal, being careful to close the door gently as she stepped into Fox's hospital room. "I don't want anyone to think I'm disturbing your sleep."

"You don't have to worry about that," chuckled Fox, as he started to relax and sat back down on the bed. "I'm not having much luck sleeping right now. Actually, I'm surprised you're still up right now."

"It's just past one in the morning," replied Krystal, as she sat right beside Fox on the bed. "I've been up later than that. Besides, I wanted to see how you were without those doctors around to interrupt."

"I'm doing better," sighed Fox. "Earlier today I just started doing some light exercises again. Nothing intensive, just some stretches and what not."

"I was talking about your mental health… I was hoping I could help out with that."

Fox grimaced as Krystal made that mention, turning away from Krystal in shame. "I still can't believe that this happened to me. I don't know why he saved me one day, then torments me the next. I don't understand it."

"I was always very skeptical of Wolf's intentions when he saved you from the Aparoids. Of course, I'm thankful that he did. But a part of me feels that he only did that to get through the Aparoid Invasion, because he felt that he couldn't defeat them alone. Once the Aparoids were taken care of, he must have felt that he didn't owe you anything anymore and returned back to his evil ways. At least, that's the way I interpreted things."

"I should have never given him a second chance… he really seemed like he was wanting to turn things around for the better."

"I suspected it a little when we were going through the Aparoid Homeworld. His mind was always clouded, like he was trying to hide or restrain something. Almost like he was regretting what he did to help you out. But I didn't mention it at the time, since we were busy defeating the Aparoids, and I didn't want to make him upset in any way. But I never would have imagined that he wanted to do something like this to you…"

Fox sat still, as he rested his forehead on one of his hands, as the familiar headache pounded through his skull which had been keeping him up throughout the night. "You wouldn't understand… It was more tougher than you can imagine. I can't even begin to describe how horrible it was to be near him."

"Then let me understand," replied Krystal. "Let me see into your mind, Fox. Show me exactly what that prick did to you."

"Now why would you want me to do tthat? I'm already scarred enough from him, I don't want you to be the same."

"Trust me, Fox. At least then we can cope with this together. There's nothing worse than dealing with inner demons alone. I can help you more than any of these psychiatrists can, as good as they are."

"I just don't want you to be hurt by this, that's all."

Krystal held her hand close to Fox's face, nestling it gently as she gazed into his bright green eyes. "Please don't worry about me, Fox. I can handle it. Just let me try this one time. There's no harm in trying."

Fox thought to himself for a couple of seconds, before sighing shrugging his hands. "Alright… but don't blame me if something bad happens to you."

Krystal said nothing, as Fox laid down on the hospital bed, facing up towards the ceiling. Krystal sat beside Fox, massaging Fox's forehead as she prepared to dive into Fox's mind. "Just empty your mind of everything else around you, and focus entirely on what happened…"

She could still sense some hesitation from Fox, perhaps not wanting to bring up bad memories of his imprisonment again. "Don't worry, Fox… I'm here with you."

Fox sighed and closed his eyes, as Krystal placed her hand onto Fox's forehead, focusing intently on Fox's thoughts as she also closed her own eyes. Soon she could start to delve deep into Fox's mind, not just picking up on Fox's feelings, but she could visually see what Fox was visualizing in his own mind.

The first thing that Krystal saw through Fox was the intensely bright prison cell he was locked up in, and the light that blinded him was beginning to affect Krystal's vision as well. She could feel the constant pain that Fox went through, the daily beatings that he went through aching his body from head to toe. She saw the guards abusing Fox day after day, making her shiver from the poundings.

"Oh, Fox…"

She saw Wolf stand in front of Fox, mocking him. She winced when she saw Wolf stab Fox in the midsection with his knife, almost moving her hands to check her own midsection to make sure that there wasn't a stab wound on her own body. When she returned to her own thoughts, she could sense the blood that poured down Fox's body, as her heart started to beat rapidly from the stress.

"Oh no, Fox…"

She saw the prison loaf Fox was force fed throughout his imprisonment, how the gruel churned inside his stomach and made him more sick and hungrier than before. She could feel all the vomit swell up inside her throat, even to the point that she could taste it herself.

"Oh God, Fox…"

She saw Fox's head being dragged into the frigid water container, being forced to hold his breath indefinitely. She also saw the guards circled around Fox, mocking him relentlessly, while also enjoying in Fox's torture. She felt how mentally tormented Fox was throughout his imprisonment, knowing that the pain would keep going, the beatings would drag on, and how he would be stuck in Wolf's mercy. Every. Single. Day. The stress and anxiety that Fox felt at the prison was transferred over to Krystal, as her own breathing started to get short and hurried, to the point where she was now starting to tremble in front of Fox.

"Oh, Fox, I can't…" Krystal removed her hands from Fox's head, screaming in terror at the visions, holding her hands on her head in fear. Fox opened his eyes and saw Krystal trembling and being close to breaking down, and Fox sat up on the bed, shaking his head.

Fox placed his hand on Krystal's shoulder, as she breathed heavily in and out. "I'm so sorry, Krystal…"

"It's alright," Krystal sighed, catching her breath. "I knew it was going to be tough… but not that tough." She leaned back on the frame of the bed, letting out a large mouthful of air as her heartrate started to dial back to usual. "I never knew Wolf could be this cruel…"

Fox sighed, closing his eyes again as he tried in vain to take his mind off the memories of the past. Even as he tried to rest his head, he still had the same visions of the cramped, cold prison chamber, the longing sense of dread still fresh in his mind.

"What's important is that you're safe now," said Krystal softly.

"Yeah…" Fox carefully opened his eyes, looking up at Krystal who was now gently rubbing his head. "I just let all of you down… if I had known how close you were to getting me out of there, I wouldn't have told him anything. We wouldn't be in this mess right now -"

"Don't say that," interrupted Krystal. "You had no idea what was going on outside. Besides, you can't put so much blame on yourself. It's only natural in that kind of situation."

Fox's head ached from the residual stress of the imprisonment, but as he glanced at Krystal, a warmth of hope started to settle into his mind. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

The words caught Krystal off guard, not expecting Fox to change subjects so rapidly as she gave a warm smile. "Oh? Well… I always sensed that from the moment you returned…"

"But I wanted to put it into words," said Fox, sitting up on the bed so that he could see Krystal eye to eye. "Throughout all this time, I've missed just about everyone out there… but none as much as you."

Fox leaned over slowly, as the two pressed their lips together, kissing quietly as they basked in the moonlight. Krystal's mind went blank as she shared her warmth with Fox, whose anxiety was starting to melt away with each passing second.

The two gently removed their lips from each other, gazing deeply into each other's eyes in awe. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a bit, content to simply admire each other. Eventually, Krystal found the words to break that silence.

"You're still going to have to recover for a while before you go back to the team."

"You're right about that," Fox conceded. "But who said I was in a rush? I've got all night to rest up…"